


The Nanny, Season 1, Episode 17, Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: The Nanny
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s01e17 Stop the Wedding I Want to Get Off, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 01, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-18 20:30:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16126172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series.





	The Nanny, Season 1, Episode 17, Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off

Open to Maxwell proclaiming his love to someone over the phone. Freaking out, a nearby C.C. demands information from Niles. Hanging up, Maxwell says it’s his sister, Jocelyn.

C.C. knew nothing about said sister, and this cues Fran’s entry. She hopes Maxwell said hello to Jocelyn for her.

Maxwell announces Jocelyn is bringing a gentleman friend with her. This is surprising to both him and Niles. Fran makes a Sherlock Holmes reference, and it’s established Jocelyn’s lack of romantic relationships has nothing to do with men finding her undesirable and everything to do with the fact she simply has never shown serious interest in anyone.

After the credits, Fran asks Niles if her outfit is appropriate for meeting Jocelyn, and without even looking, he tells her no. The doorbell rings, and Maxwell answers it. Calling one another embarrassing childhood names, he and Jocelyn physically terrorise one another. Fran introduces herself, and Jocelyn’s neutral reaction to her is nice to see. Then, Jocelyn introduces her guest, Nigel the Duke of Salisbury.

Jocelyn’s chauffeur, Lester, comes in, and Jocelyn reintroduces Maxwell to him. During all this, Fran laughs at something, and Jocelyn reveals Maxwell has written letters about her to Jocelyn.

The four sit down together, and it’s quickly revealed there’s absolutely no passion or genuine interest between Jocelyn and Nigel. This is followed by the announcement they’re engaged.

Already considering herself part of the Sheffield family, Fran starts calling her mother and notes the last duke they had had to be put to sleep.

At dinner, Nigel realises he and Jocelyn forgot to bring gifts for the children. So, he wants to give them money. Brighton is all for this, but Maxwell nixes it. Fran tells Brighton God punishes the greedy.

C.C. comes in, and Fran pointedly says, “See?”

C.C. introduces herself, and once she’s sat down, Maxwell asks if a date’s been set. The answer’s no, and forgetting these people are rich, Fran shows off her bridal consultant skills. Suggesting they have the wedding in the Sheffield home, she offers her expertise. Maxwell voices his support of the idea. C.C. is less-than-impressed, and Niles literally throws a plate of food down in front of her.

Jocelyn and Nigel decide to get married on Sunday, because, it’ll give them an excuse to skip a golfing date with someone Jocelyn doesn’t particularly like. Happy this is settled, Fran expresses her displeasure with the English cuisine, and then, she makes a horrible joke about bulimia, specifically about Princess Diana’s struggle with it.

I really admire Fran Drescher, and I think The Nanny is more feminist and socially progressive than many people realise, but it often falls flat when it comes to women’s relationship with food. The character Fran’s warped body image is played for laughs, fat jokes abound, and when it does address the fact many women do have an unhealthy relationship with food, it seems the show is mockingly condemning the women rather the screwed up society responsible for contributing to such issues by paradoxically encouraging and condemning them. Then, there are instances where a real life woman’s actual medical condition was used for a cheap, cruel joke.

Later, Gracie is freaking out about being a flower girl, and calming her down, Fran sends her to take a relaxing bath.

Next, Kenny, a teenage boy Fran knows, shows up, and she tries to play matchmaker for him and Maggie. He thinks Maggie is out of his league. She doesn’t help her case when she talks to Niles about Maxwell and Nigel going yacht shopping, and it doesn’t help her case at all when Maggie and Jocelyn come home in horse riding gear. He leaves with barely a word to Maggie.

Maggie wanders off, and grabbing Jocelyn’s hand, Fran shows her the wedding dress Kenny brought over.

Jocelyn’s reaction is, “It kind of screams, ‘I’m getting married,’ don’t you think?”

They sit down, and Fran tries to ask Jocelyn questions about what special song should played at the wedding. Jocelyn suggests flipping a coin, and Fran nicely but bluntly asks if Jocelyn loves Nigel. Instead of directly answering, Jocelyn asks, “Who wouldn’t?” She goes on to list his good qualities.

Accepting this, Fran tries to get on with the planning, but Jocelyn decides Fran can make all the decisions.

If she actually read any of the letters Maxwell sent, this either means she thinks he’s exaggerating, or some part of her actually wants the wedding sabotaged.

Jocelyn calls for Lester, and she’s barely done calling before he’s materialised. He already knows where she wants to go and what she wants to do. Fran asks him questions about Jocelyn, and he answers them all without a second thought.

In the kitchen, Fran tells Niles about her uneasiness regarding the wedding. He dismissively says Jocelyn and the duke are simply not demonstrative people. She says a woman in love with a man should be swept off her feet.

Cue Lester carrying a laughing Jocelyn in. It’s revealed she sprung her ankle. She says she’s fine to walk, but he insists on carrying her to her bedroom.

Later, Fran wakes Maxwell up in the middle of the night to inform him Jocelyn is in love with Lester. Naturally, he assumes such a statement comes from his sister actually telling her such a thing.

It’s definitely possible to tell someone is in love with another person without being told, but Fran isn’t handling this in a way likely to garnish much support for the theory. If she’d waited until morning, explained what she thought and why, and then, suggested Maxwell talk to Jocelyn about it, he’d probably be more willing to consider the idea. As it is, he’s sarcastic and sends her away due to being unwilling to ruin his sister’s wedding on the fact his children’s nanny erroneously, in his view, believes said sister is in love with someone other than her fiancé.

The next day, the house has been decorated, and I love Fran’s outfit. She and Kenny set up the refreshment table, and she suggests he invite Maggie to his stand-up show. He isn’t up for this.

Next, Fran discovers someone has pre-emptively been snacking. His mouth full, Brighton blames Gracie before running away. Wide-eyed, Grace denies it, and then, also runs away.

Maxwell appears, and Fran declares Gracie senses doom. Maxwell points out, “Miss Fine, Grace senses doom at Disney Land.” He makes it clear he’s not going to ruin Jocelyn’s wedding day on Fran’s hunch, and she promises not to talk to Jocelyn about it. Once he’s out of the room, she calls Lester over to ask why he hasn’t told Jocelyn he loves her.

They sit down, and he makes a point about social classes and him being her employee.

“You know, if you ever bothered to look in your rear-view mirror, you would see that she’s in love with you, too.”

Standing, he says he has nothing to offer Jocelyn. Taking his hand, she counters has undying love. Gently putting his hand over hers, he answers, “If only that were enough,” before walking away.

At the wedding, Maxwell and Nigel are either wearing the same or extremely similar outfits. From what I understand, this is a no-no due to the fact people who don’t personally know who the groom was won’t be able to tell from looking at wedding pictures.

Niles is pouring champagne for C.C. She tells Maxwell how much she loves weddings. Niles replies, “Oh, we all want what we can’t have.”

Oh, the sweet, hilarious irony of those words fills me with sadistic glee.

C.C. asks Maxwell about the possibility of him getting remarried, and he answers he hopes to someday.

In Maxwell’s study, Jocelyn is adjusting her dress, and Lester knocks on the balcony door. Declaring she looks like an angel, he breaks the news he’s giving his notice. They shake hands, and she refuses to let go of his. He asks if he can kiss hers, and she readily agrees. As he kisses from her hand upward, he tells her how happy he’s been and he wishes he could have done more. As he gets closer to her face, she tells him he’s doing a good job of making up for it.

Outside, in the hallway, Fran is psyching Grace up. She opens the door to find Jocelyn and Lester snogging. Her first reaction is happiness, but then, she remembers the wedding. She closes the door.

Appearing, Maxwell wonders what’s taking his sister. Opening, and then, quickly closing the door, he realises Fran spoke to Lester.

Going to the reception, Fran announces there are some technical difficulties. She corners Kenny into doing his stand-up routine.

Nigel comes to see what’s going on, and the three burst in. Jocelyn and Lester break apart, and Lester announces they’re in love. Nigel tries to remain dignified about the whole thing and even resigns himself to the large number of people he’ll have to deal with, but Fran points out he can leave through the balcony door. He takes this option, and Jocelyn asks if Maxwell is disappointed in her.

Hugging her, he sweetly says he’s only sorry she and Lester didn’t find happiness together sooner.

Getting down on one knee, Lester proposes to Jocelyn, and she passionately gives her consent.

Back at the reception, Fran reappears with Lester, and Maggie compliments Kenny. He invites her to see his full routine, and she accepts. Leading Lester to the front, Fran tells the bride’s side to remain seated and the groom’s side to pick up their gifts on the way out.

Maxwell leads Jocelyn in.

Shouldn’t someone be carrying her train? It’s dragging on the floor. Not only is this a safety hazard, it seems like a good way to get it permanently smudged with who knows what.

Later, in the kitchen, Fran and Maxwell talk about how sad it is some people don’t see love staring them straight in the face due to class differences.

Saying goodnight, they go their separate ways.

Usually, I’d think this was heavy-handed, but I have to admit it’s a genuinely sweet scene. The two have a sweet chemistry, and there’s a sincerity to the whole exchange. On one level, it’s about them, but on another level, it’s about trying to get across to the audience the fact love doesn’t always happen within set parameters and it shouldn’t automatically be rejected when it doesn’t.

Fin.


End file.
